This story is of an adult nature. It is not intended for minors nor for those whose law in their land forbids them to read this material.
This story is entirely fictional. Any resemblance to actual people is purely coincidental and unintentional.

NB: Words found between asterisks (*) refer to words exchanged in psychic or telepathic communication.

Date: 12 September 2674, Saturday

Heath and Jacques were still in bed though it was already well into the morning. They were given a day off that Saturday. The couple had a romantic dinner the night before and had made love well into the wee hours of the morning. Their morning sleep in was interrupted by Jorg.

Heath and Jacques felt Jorg’s hands on their shoulders. Heath stirred slowly but Jacques sat up immediately covering his nakedness. Both men had their usual morning erections.

“Jorg! You should’ve called first! I know you’re our trainer but you’ve no right to barge in on us like that?!” Jacques exclaimed. “Heath, wake up! Jorg is here! In here! In person!”

Jacques couldn’t believe his eyes. He shot a thought to Heath, *Aren’t you covering up?*

“What for?” said Heath. “Jorg has been around for more than six hundred years. I’m sure he understands our condition?”

Jorg couldn’t help laughing. “Sorry for the intrusion. I tried calling you the human way but no one answered. I tried awaking you mentally but you didn’t respond. The only way left was to come here physically. I did check to see if it was okay to come. I didn’t want to barge in and interrupt your love-making.”

Jacques turned red and Heath just grinned. Jacques got up hurriedly and retrieved their bathrobes, put on his and threw the other at Heath.

Heath did not put on the robe, instead, he merely placed the robe in front of him to cover his crotch. He decided that not to do so would make things even more difficult with Jacques.

“What was so important that you needed to see us so urgently, Master?” asked Heath.

“Stephanie will be arriving at noon.”

“What?! I thought she’d two more months of study left,” said Jacques.

“She’d actually finished all her credits for her basic degree and was just taking two courses for her next degree. Since she isn’t going to continue on Earth, I suspect that she isn’t going to continue with those courses. You’ve a very intelligent sister, Jacques.”

“I know. She never did well when we were on Earth, though,” Jacques remarked.

“Some more information. Sam made sure that Mark couldn’t get a seat on this flight so he’ll arrive tomorrow. We’ve got less than two hours to try to prevent your parents from getting to the airport before you do.”

“Why didn’t I hear anything from my family?” asked Jacques.

“I think your family got the information last night. I’ve no doubt that they tried to call you but …”

Jacques blushed again. Both of them had switched off their communicators so that they’d be able to enjoy the evening without interruption.

“I’d very good information that she got herself in another orgy Thursday night,” informed Jorg. “I’ve got Brin on standby. If you need to scan her medically, he’ll be available.”

Jacques looked very concerned. “Any other information how she got into that situation. Was she drugged as before?”

“Sorry Jacques, my contacts could not ascertain that fact. They reported her going to a party at one of the dorm halls and it happened there. They’d thought that since it was a dorm party, it’d be quite mild. It was. Then as the party wound down, they couldn’t locate your sister at the main hall. They found her naked and asleep with a few men and women in one of the dorm rooms.”

“What possessed her to do such a thing?” moaned Jacques.

“Moaning and bitching about it here’ll not help,” said Heath. “We’ll need to see her. Master Jorg, any ideas about delaying the family.

“I’ve got Jacques’ father covered. The moment you agree, something will happen to the telescope at the university. We’re hoping that once the family vehicle is used, your mother might try to contact you.”

“Right!” said Heath getting up without bothering to put on his bathrobe. He got to their communicators and switched them on.

“Sorry,” said Heath as he got back to the bed and took the bathrobe there and put it on.

Jorg was amused by the situation. Heath had once been very suspicious of his motives but now is the more trusting of the two. Of course, it also helped that Jorg had a person in his life now. Jacques, on the other hand, was not happy with Jorg dropping in without warning.

Once Jorg had gone, Heath apologised profusely to Jacques, “I’m sorry. I know I should’ve put on that robe. I hope I haven’t hurt you too much.”

Jacques came towards Heath and smiled. Heath had looked so sorry that Jacques did not have the heart to be angry with him any more. He wrapped his arms around Heath and kissed him tenderly on the lips. “I’m not hurt. I was just a little uncomfortable being naked around people. The only person that I feel comfortable with is you. Jorg is gay and virile. I didn’t want you to tempt him. You have a very beautiful body and you might cause him to go back and wank himself silly with fantasies of you.”

Heath was amused by what Jacques had thought. “I don’t think that I was a temptation but I’ll cover up whenever anyone’s around. I’ll only let my doctor and you ever see me naked. And only you have access to me sexually.” Heath leaned forward to kiss his lover.

The communicators sounded. Heath shook his head. They didn’t even have time for a kiss.

“Go and get your shower. I’ll get this. Tune in to the conversation if you want to,” said Jacques.

“Okay,” said Heath as he went in. He was disappointed not being able to play a little more but he knew that the situation at hand was more important and urgent.

“Hi … Oh Mama … Buon giorno!”

“Good morning, Jacques. Where’ve you been? We’ve been trying to get you since last night!”

“Sorry Mama, Heath and I kinda got plans for the evening and we shut off our communicators …” answered Jacques blushing a little.

“Wow! That’s cool. Are we all going to the shuttle port to receive her?”

“Your father, sisters and I were supposed to go. Your father’d just left to see to some problem regarding the telescope. I was hoping that we’d be able to go with you instead.”

“Did Dad say how long it was going to take?”

“No. We were planning to eat out after picking her up.”

“I think Stef’ll appreciate a less stressful lunch at home. Why don’t Heath and I go and pick her up whilst you prepare lunch. After all she just came from Earth and I guess she’ll be tired and would like to have some chance to relax in a homely atmosphere,” Jacques suggested.

“That’s true.”

“So Heath and I’ll head down to pick her up and bring her straight home. I’m sure it’ll also be good for Dad. He’ll not have the stress of keeping track of time.”

Stephanie’s face fell when she saw Jacques and Heath waiting for her. She had hoped that her parents would come. She felt very uncomfortable with her brother and his partner who had an good knowledge of what she’d done. She remained silent during the walk from the shuttle bay to the vehicle park.

She was surprised to see Jacques taking the wheel instead of Heath. Heath let her sit with her brother up front and he took the back seat behind Jacques.

“Had a good flight, Stef?” asked Heath.

“Okay. You know how the flights are?”

“Yes,” chuckled Heath. “It’s more the time waiting your turn to use the relays than travelling itself. I heard that before the relay system, one had to endure months of travel through space just to go from Earth to Jupiter! Think of that for a change.”

Stef shuddered, “I’m glad we have this form of travel now. The few minutes between relays can be harrowing for some. The girl sitting next to me was green in the face. I’m sure it wasn’t make-up.”

“Mama told us that you were coming back. You’ve finished all your studies?” said Jacques.

“Yes?” Stef answered and asked at the same time. She was a little apprehensive.

“I was wrong about you. I said some nasty things at the hotel. I’m sorry,” said Jacques. Stephanie could hear a regret in Jacques’ voice.

“Jacques, you said the truth. I never did my best. I had time on my hands last year and I just took extra courses. I never thought I’d finish so fast. Now with the situation with Mark, I wanted to start afresh.”

The vehicle stopped, signifying that they had reached their destination.

“Stef, I need to know if you could still go back to Earth if you wanted to,” said Jacques.

“Yes, but why …?”

“Mark has applied to join Titan Tours Uranus. We heard that he got the job,” Heath said.

“What?!”

“I couldn’t get management to drop him after we found out your plans to come back. We think he wants to be near to you.”

“Why can’t he leave me alone?” Stephanie asked.

“Has he been stalking you?” asked Jacques.

“Not really. If you mean if he’s at every corner, no. But every time I go with my friends for a drink, he’d appear. I don’t see him at all during the day. Only at night. He has the uncanny ability to be where I’d go. Sometimes he’s with friends and at other times, he’s alone.”

“Our hands are tied, Stef,” said Jacques.

“Do you still want to be here?” asked Heath.

“I don’t know!” groaned Stephanie.

“Look the situation’s more complex because he’s supposed to be my assistant. I’ll have to work with him, Stef. I’ll try to keep him away from you but there’s only so much I can do. If he still stalks you, let me know. I’ll see what I can do.”

“What can you do?” Stephanie asked.

“This is Uranus,” Heath replied, “we know people and there’re ways to get people off the planet without anyone knowing.”

Stephanie looked at her brother and his lover in horror. What could they be thinking of? she asked herself.

They got out of the vehicle and walked towards the Robinson’s apartment block.

*Jacques, she’s clean,* Heath informed his partner mentally.

*That’s a relief. Did you catch her projected thought about getting back with Mark?*

*Yes. I wonder if it’s because she thinks we’re involved with the underworld or because she really has feelings for him.*

*Only time can tell.*

§ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ §

Date: 20 September 2674, Sunday

Jorg was at the shuttle port to receive Mark.

“Good afternoon, Mr. Keith. I’m Mike Brown. We talked a few days ago?”

“Yes, Mr. Brown. Perhaps I should address you as Captain Brown.”

“I’m officially Mr. Brown until the ship begins her voyage. I don’t get my Captain’s license until a few days before that,” Jorg said with a smile. “Outside work, I’d like you to call me Mike.”

“Thank you sir. You’d have to call me Mark then.”

“Good. The formalities are done away with. Come with me, I’ll bring you to your apartment. The facilities aren’t first class because of the tight budget. Most of your time would be out in space, after all.”

Mark smiled, “Yes. I guess a bunk to sleep in would be just fine.”

“Of course not just a bunk,” laughed Jorg. “Just don’t expect everything here to be at the same level of sophistication as Earth.”

Mark was quite happy with the apartment. It was spartan no doubt but it had all the modern amenities. There was even a direct link to the market. He would be able to get his foodstuff without even going to the store.

“I hear that you’re a friend of Jacques Robinson,” said Jorg (Mike).

“Yes. We went to school together. I even dated his sister.”

“Well, you know that you’d be working together with him.”

“Yes. That’s one of the reasons I applied for this job. To be honest, I’d hit a bad patch in my life recently and I was hoping to start anew here. His partner was kind enough to help me through the bad patch and Jacques even came to Earth just to help me out. I was hoping that we could continue our friendship.”

“Good. You also know Heath. I was afraid that you hadn’t known that he was gay. Working on board a ship with a gay man doesn’t agree with every person.”

“I’m comfortable with him. I’m not the least uncomfortable at all,” Mark reassured his superior.

“Good.”

¤ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ¤

“So you mean that he hasn’t any idea that Stef’s here?” Jacques said.

“Well, if he’s a professional liar, I’d be wrong. From his heart and breathing rate, I’d say he was telling me the truth about starting anew here.”

“That doesn’t mean that he didn’t follow Stef here,” Jacques argued.

“True,” Jorg answered. “But I’m inclined to think that he’s sincere about working with us. All I’m saying, Jacques, is to give him a chance. Though there’s the probability that he’s followed your sister, it’s also probable that this is only an coincidence.”

“You know,” Heath said, “all of these speculations could’ve been avoided if Stef just told the truth came clean with Mark.”

“Too late to talk about that,” stated Jorg. “We’ve got to deal with what we’ve now. The problem is that until they heal, they would be affected in the presence of the other. There’s nothing more we can do in this situation. Any more would tantamount to forcing the two of them to accept each other. This isn’t the magi way,” said Jorg, shaking his head. “Do you know what the real problem with Stephanie is?”

“Honesty,” offered Jacques. His talk with Heath had helped him to understand the origin of his sister’s troubles.

“That and pride,” remarked Jorg. “If pride wasn’t in the way, we might’ve been able to help them sooner. Now, we’ll have to wait and see what happens next.”